The ConnectNet Micro-Blox development board, which joins the Future-Blox series of stackable proof-of-concept platforms from Future Electronics, supports rapid prototyping with the PIC32™ MCU family and enables faster, lower-cost hardware development

The ConnectNet Micro-Blox helps developers using Microchips PIC32MX5, MX6 and MX7 families of 32-bit MCUs to accelerate development by providing a realistic system-level blueprint for a wide range of end products. Developers can freely use, or modify, the ConnectNet Micro-Blox implementations of common functions, such as power management, display driving, memory control and communications interfaces, in their own designs.

The board features the top-of-the-range PIC32MX795F512L MCU alongside an A3P250-1FGG256 ProASIC3 FPGA from Actel. Many 32-bit MCU-based designs use programmable logic; in the ConnectNet Micro-Blox, Future Electronics has used the ProASIC3 to perform data-flow management and memory interfacing, and also as a programmable LCD controller. This delivers an additional advantage for developers by avoiding the obsolescence problems common with dedicated display-driver ASICs. The code for all the ProASIC3 implementations is freely available.

Future Electronics also provides a full Board-Support Package (BSP) including a port of the Microchip FreeRTOS operating system along with drivers, TCP/IP and USB Device/Host stacks, example code and tools. The package includes libraries for AES128/196/256 encryption, frame buffer and graphics, CAN, audio and DSP functions, the FatFS file system, and 16-bit and 32-bit file systems.